ABB, the world leading power and automation technology group has expanded its application range for robot automation with the introduction of robotic bin picking.
The new system unveiled at Chicago's International Manufacturing Technology Show late last year, was the first public demonstration of an ABB robot that can reliably locate and disseminate jumbled and randomly situated materials from bins.
The system utilising the vision guidance software of partner Braintech Inc. and the powerful IRC 5 robot controller developed by ABB.
“ABB is expanding the application range of robot automation by demonstrating that our robots are now able to perform a random bin picking task," says Olivier Coquerel, robotics sales manager, ABB Australia.
"This is considered almost mundane work for a human, but is really quite a challenge for a robot, given the potential for collisions and the challenges associated with finding the right part to pick in a container with hundreds of parts.”
According to Rick Weidinger, chief executive officer of Braintech, his company was excited to demonstrate its robotic bin picking technology at one of the largest industrial trade shows in the world.
"Working with ABB, we've developed a competitive advantage for our customers in cutting costs and increasing production in a multitude of plant applications," he explains.
"There are many benefits - faster productivity, improved quality, reduced capital and maintenance costs, all leading to increased profitability.
"We encourage every company that has a need for intelligent materials handling to register their interest in attending a practical demonstration.
Packaged as part of ABB’s TrueView™ leading edge vision guidance product line, the new robotic bin picking is now available for sale from ABB Australia’s Robotics Partners.